Rescue Sad Tomato Plants. Enjoy a fall harvest.

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Can This Tomato Be Saved?

Brown leaves aren’t necessarily a sign that a plant is dead or diseased.

This tomato shows signs of life in spite of brown leaves.

  1. Do you live in a region with a long growing season? Are your tomatoes looking a little rough, like the one pictured? Don’t give up quite yet. There may be signs of new life on that tired tomato and time enough to enjoy a fall harvest.
  2. Look carefully for small sprouts of healthy green foliage and maybe a few blooms and small, green tomatoes. See any? If so, give your plant a second chance.
  3. Trim off every dead stem and leaf; be careful not to cut any main stems leading to new growth. Put the dead material in a bag and get it out of the garden to avoid spreading disease. Rake away old mulch and discard it, too. Water thoroughly at the base of the plant; don’t wet the remaining foliage. Give plants a boost with a liquid fertilizer such as Bonnie’s Herb & Vegetable Plant Food which is sold alongside our plants. Then sprinkle a little timed-release or organic granular fertilizer around the base of the plant (according to the rate on the label). Refresh with new mulch. Spray the foliage and stems with hydrophobic oil of Neem, which acts as a fungicide, insecticide, and miticide. You’ll have to read the fine print on the label to find this name, but it should be in the organic product section of your favorite garden center. Its multiple purposes and natural source fuel favor among gardeners. In humid climates you may also need to use a spray of copper or Daconil, which are fungicides that fight many tomato problems.
Tomato plants can come back to life for a fall harvest if cared for properly.

Once its old leaves are trimmed and it has been sprayed for insects and disease, the plant may come back for fall. Water and fertilize.

Now keep the plant watered; wait and see. By now your plant has a well-developed root system, so if it is still healthy, you may be surprised at how quickly it fills back out and yields a new crop of tomatoes for fall. Your tomato has until the first frost to ripen its new crop and will be a little slower in the cool days of fall.

This technique is especially successful for varieties that mature early, such as the indeterminate Early Girl, and in Zone 7b and south, where tomatoes have a long growing season.

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